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"I think it’s just refreshing to kind of see women like Gillian write women like that, and to have been given the opportunity to get to play those women in the last ten years. It feels authentic and real," the actress continues.

"It’s really interesting when you write and get to play a woman that is layered and conflicted and has certain human attributes that might not be that attractive, which is part of the human condition.

"I think because we haven’t seen enough of it in cinema, it kind of sticks out like a sore thumb and people comment on it.

"At the end of the day, they’re really not compartmentalized characteristics; they really are just part of a full human being, and especially a woman."

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Charlize Theron in Dark Places

Theron also highlights the changes that are happening in the film industry and the appearance of better projects and more nuanced roles.

"I do think there’s been an incredible shift, especially in this last couple of years," she says.

"I think good film-making is when you do hold a mirror up truthfully, and you don’t angle it, and you don’t, you know, hide things with smoke and mirrors, but you really kind of hold it up truthfully.

"I think women are starting to be represented that way, and I think people are responding to it. It’s fun to watch women do that stuff."

Although the actress has played a formidable and thrilling array of female characters, she says she was inspired by powerhouse male roles when she was growing up.

"I remember when I started out, I wanted to be Jack Nicholson in The Shining, and Robert DeNiro in Taxi Driver," she says.

"I was like, 'Where are those roles for women?', you know."

Now THAT is something we'd like to see...

DARK PLACES is out now on Blu-ray™ and DVD, courtesy of Entertainment One.